Minnesota Gives Nod to Angelo Gordon Fund Boost and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

In today’s roundup of regional news headlines, a Minnesota pension manager follows through on a planned commitment to an Angelo Gordon real estate fund, and Chinese home rental platform Ziroom reportedly mulls raising $1 billion from a Hong Kong IPO.

Minnesota SBI Approves Up to $100M Investment in Angelo Gordon Fund

The Minnesota State Board of Investment has approved an investment of up to $100 million in private equity firm Angelo Gordon’s AG Asia Realty Fund V.

The Minnesota SBI, which manages retirement and other funds for government workers in the upper midwest US state, gave the green light to the commitment at a meeting on 2 March. Read more>>

SoftBank-Backed Ziroom May Raise $1B in Hong Kong IPO

Chinese home rental platform Ziroom is considering a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise about $1 billion as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The SoftBank-backed startup is working with Citic Securities, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley on the listing preparations, the people said. The company could file a preliminary prospectus with the Hong Kong stock exchange as soon as April, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Read more>>

DigitalBridge Considers Selling Vantage Data Centers Minority Stake

DigitalBridge Group, a global digital infrastructure investment firm, is reportedly considering the sale of a minority stake in Vantage Data Centers, a global provider of hyperscale data centre campuses. The deal could raise over $1.5 billion for the infrastructure specialist, Bloomberg reported, citing familiar sources.

DigitalBridge is working with UBS to gauge buyer interest. In addition, the report said a stake in Vantage Data Centers would likely draw interest from financial investors and other infrastructure funds. Read more>>

Chinese Estates Returns to Profit After First Annual Loss Since 2010

Chinese Estates Holdings, a Hong Kong developer controlled by the family of tycoon Joseph Lau, returned to profit last year with the help of bigger dividend income, asset revaluation gains and a smaller setback in financial investments.

The firm reported a net profit of HK$1.15 billion ($146.5 million) versus a HK$3.52 billion loss a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing on Friday. Revenue increased by 10.4 percent to HK$1.435 billion. The red ink in 2021 was its first since 2010, according to its annual reports. Read more>>

Unit of Li Ka-shing’s Hutchison Aims to Build 15,075 Homes in Tsing Yi

CK Hutchison Group, the flagship company of Hong Kong’s wealthiest man, plans to turn a waterfront dockyard into the city’s second-largest housing enclave, adding much needed supply to the world’s least affordable major urban centre.

Hutchison’s Hongkong United Dockyards unit submitted a proposal to the Town Planning Board to erect 15,075 homes on its site and adjacent government land in Tsing Yi. The site, next to the Tsing Ma Bridge, will comprise 10,370 apartments and 4,700 public housing units, HUD said. Read more>>

Chow Tai Fook, FEC See Diluted Shareholding in Queen’s Wharf Brisbane

Casino operator The Star’s latest move to raise some $545 million in an equity life raft has resulted in the diminishing of the shareholdings of its primary partners in the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane project: Hong Kong-listed Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium.

Under the new placement, the two companies’ combined stakes have now fallen from 9.99 percent to 6.86 percent, at 3.4 percent voting power each. Read more>>

AbaCore Partners With China’s Shanlin to Build $27M Resort in Philippines

Philippine-listed AbaCore Capital Holdings and China-based Shanlin Real Estate are teaming up to build a PHP 1.5 billion ($27 million) resort in Batangas on Luzon.

In a statement, AbaCore said the project will feature the Philippines’ biggest water amusement park and will cater to religious visitors since it will be built around the Montemaria Shrine, a pilgrimage centre. Read more>>

7-Eleven Japan Operator’s Shares Plunge After Rating Cut

Seven & I Holdings dropped the most in 11 months after brokerage CLSA Securities Japan cut its rating on the stock, saying investors may be disappointed with the retailer’s new business plan.

The stock fell as much as 5.4 percent in Tokyo trading Friday, the largest intraday decline since April. Nigel Muston, an analyst at CLSA, cut his rating to “underperform” from “outperform”, saying he expects a near-term correction because the company remains a conglomerate. Read more>>

Tune in again soon for more real estate news and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.